The Brockville Braves picked up their eighth straight win, surpassing their team-high last year, and it only took them 10 games this season to do it.

The Braves, ranked No. 9 in the CJHL rankings, picked up their recent win with a 5-1 victory over the Kemptville 73s at the Memorial Centre in what was, arguably, their most complete game in weeks.

Brockville came out of the gates running and dominated for most of the first period, out-shooting Kempvtille 17-6.

The Braves spent long stretches in the 73s zone, while they often got the puck out of their defensive end as quickly as Kemptville entered it.

Despite the hot start, Brockville didn’t open the scoring until Eric Faith was left completely alone in front of the net off a face-off and managed to clean up a rebound.

After Braves captain Fred Allaire stretched his team’s lead to two late in the second period, it looked like the 73s were ready to make a comeback when Matthew Titus cut the deficit two minutes later. Those hopes were quickly dashed when Mathieu Halle scored his third goal of the season 31 seconds later.

The third period turned into the Faith show as he added two more goals to get a hat trick and round out the game’s scoring.

The win also pushed Braves goalie Liam Souliere’s undefeated streak to eight games, giving up more than one goal in just one of those matchups. Souliere was named the CCHL’s goalie of the month for September earlier this week.

“It was a complete effort and we had contributions from all 20 guys. We had contributions from everywhere,” said Braves coach Jesse Winchester. “I thought it was 60 full minutes.”

GAME NOTES

FINDING FAITH

Eric Faith has been the standout for the Braves this season, leading his team with 13 points in 10 games. He’s been good all year, but the fifth-year forward has really turned it on as of late.

Faith has picked up points in each of the last five games, collecting eight points over that time. Friday’s matchup was the first time he’s gotten goals during this hot stretch.

“He’s producing and had some looks on the power play, chipping in with some assists. Tonight the puck finally went in. He had some really nice shots and all three of them were at the top of the net,” said Winchester.

GOALS A PLENTY

Brockville struggled to find the back of the net consistently at the start of the season. In their opening five games they never scored more than three goals. In their last five they haven’t scored less than four. While the Braves defence has definitely been the highlight of the early season, if their offence continues to pack a punch then they can potentially have a down night or two and not guarantee themselves a loss.

“We’ve been playing hard and getting into the dirty areas. We’ve had some beautiful goals, but a lot of them are through hard work,” said Winchester.

GET BUSY

It’s been a pretty relaxed schedule so far for Brockville, but their calendar is about to get full.

The Braves next game is on the road in Kanata next Thursday. That matchup kicks off a run of five games taking place over the course of nine days.

Brockville’s last five games were played over 29 days.

The Braves next home game will be next Friday against the Pembroke Lumber Kings.

“Our schedule has been a little relaxed with a lot of weekends off, so I feel like our first periods haven’t been great with the exception being tonight and I think we played well against Cornwall (on Sept. 21 in a 4-1 win), but we struggled against Smiths Falls and Kanata in the first. Our boys have rebounded and the second period has been a big one for us usually,” said Winchester.